Dear Tony,
I have gone through some difficult periods myself recently. I would like to reflect on some of what I learned.
You need to fix your life as best as you can. Change is very traumatic at first. You need to have as much stability as possible before trying to change anything. Too much change can backfire quickly. Major changes involve an extended period of down time where you need to keep the rest of your life as stable as possible.
I tried to do too much, pushed too hard, and grew depressed. I essentially shut down for a while. I needed to rest and stop pushing myself more than absolutely necessary. I stopped trying to eat well or exercise more. When you are depressed, just eating anything at all can be an accomplishment, and I stopped there. I stopped trying to clean my apartment or do anything really productive. I just rested for a few days.
And it worked. I feel a lot better now. Although I know I still need to be really careful about my limits and to concentrate on my new job and not push myself to do much extra.
A friend of mine who had a chronic physical problem once told me that the body needs extra energy trying to heal. That if she strained herself or had a complication she needed to rest more and eat more to let her body heal. I think that is true for mental health as well as physical. If your mind or your body is strained, then you need to give it something extra to recover.
